He wasn't sure what happened, all he knows is that it fucking hurt. 

When he awakens, he feels his hand being gripped by who he assumes is Aria. When he opens his eyes, he's not necessarily disappointed, but he feels a pang on his heart. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't all a bad dream. He's in the mafia, and next to him is Y/n L/n, the love of his life. But he's not the love of hers. He's lived with that so far, hopefully he can continue that.

"Princess," he whispers, her sniffling and scooting closer. "Where am I?" He stops himself when he sees the lights above him, the gown on his body. 

"We didn't have any other choice. We got surrounded and had to go somewhere they wouldn't follow us. They're waiting for us outside, covering all exits. Our plan worked. They found us, but now we're severely outnumbered and outgunned. Had to dispose of our weapons before we went in. We don't have much time," she replies.

"What happened?"

"Our plan worked, like I said. Mafia found us and tried kidnapping us off the streets. Jungkook and I are the reasons you're alive, you're welcome. Namjoon's scouting the area with Jin, Hoseok and Yoongi should be nearby too-"

"Where is she? Where's Ariel?" he asks, hoping he doesn't sound too desperate.

"She's safe, she's with Taehyung. We're all safe. For now, we still need to figure out how to get out of here."

"Are there any doctors around?" She shakes her head. "Good, let's get out of here then. Did they ask us anything about how this happened?"

"We said it was a street robbery, the three bodies outside prove it. Public eye hasn't gotten to the doctors yet, but they'd agree with our story. The police shouldn't be up our ass for at least a little bit longer, but we need to move. Can you feel your legs?"

"I'm fine." He means it, too.

"The others are waiting for your status, I volunteered to stay. Wasn't really volunteering though, I wanted to be here. I've missed you, Mimi. It feels like we haven't seen each other much recently."

"Kind of hard to be together when you have a boyfriend and we're on the run, but... I missed you too. A lot," he says in a murmur, softly smiling.

She gives his hand a squeeze, Jimin sitting up. It results in his back cracking, him holding the sore spot and adjusting his posture. He's grateful that she guides him every step of the way, Jimin wishing to tear this stupid hospital gown off. The woman seems to read his mind seeing as she grabs his cloths, some blood still on the cuffs of the shirt. He's quick to change, removing a couple medical patches to do so.

When he's done, Y/n helps him remove all the remaining tubes connected to his body, him going for the oximeter next. Jimin's finger brushes over it, then, that's when he hears it. 

The heart rate monitor.

Y/n notices him fall still, the subtle 'beeps' poking and prodding against his ears. "Jimin, we have to go," she says, reminding them of their mission. He finishes unhooking the rest, standing. He grunts and leans on Y/n, her wrapping his arm over her shoulder. "You good?" 

Despite the searing pain in his head, he reassures her that he's fine. However, when they go to walk away, the ring of the machine hits him. It makes the same pitch, but because he's disconnected, that pitch now happens to be a flatline. A plain tone that has him halting his movements. 

"Jimin," she says, mostly as a warning.

Her voice is desperate. Breathy, even. Jimin can hear each letter as she pronounces them. But he still doesn't care. Y/n, the love of his life, is next to him, but her words go in one ear and out the other. He hears one sound. One sound only: the flatline. He sees one thing too. Marred skin and closed eyes, a girl laying on a hospital bed. And that's when he makes his decision.

He turns around and punches it.

"Jimin!"

Jimin ignores her, smashing it off its stand. The adrenaline masks the new injury added to his knuckles, Jimin diving to the ground to continue his onslaught against the machine. It puts up a solid fight, ringing and ringing as he hits it over and over again. 

The tears that flood his vision has the lime line of the monitor disappearing from his sight, the noises slowly going with it. One punch. A shout. Two punches. Tears. Three. More pain than he's felt in his life. Four. More shouts shaking him. Five. Blood on his knuckles. Six-

Y/n finds the right window and drags him away from the broken monitor by the elbows, his face boiling with fury. "Fuck you!" he screams at it, his entire body convulsing from the exertion of the shout as saliva spits itself out of his mouth. Tears drip off his skin and to the ground, sounds he can only describe as wails being ripped from his throat. Clawed out, even.

Although deep down he doesn't want to, he still fights against her, wishing to land more punches on the machine that already has its wires sticking out, little bits of metal shards in his knuckles. 

"Fuck you," he says again, this time much softer, his voice still raspy.

Jimin gives up, his body refusing to fight anymore. He slumps to the ground face-first, his cheek landing on the cool floor. His tears stain it, sobs echoing past his tongue. The angle he's laying in gives him a perfect view of the damage he's done. It's a lot, but still not enough. He wants to beat it until it has no parts left. And despite it being gone, he can still hear the ringing. The flatline. Memories of his baby girl in the kitchen the night before she...

Not knowing what else to do, Y/n rubs his back, pulling his frail form into her embrace. He bawls against her shoulder, a strike of terror hitting him. 'What if Ariel turns out the same? What if this is a sign?' He isn't sure if the questions are rational, but he can't stop them now. What if the same happens to the little girl impacted by this mafia life, just like how his child was. What if he can't protect her? He didn't last time for Aria, and he was barely there before Ariel got killed. He's lucky she's alive.

"What do I do?" he asks in a whimper, pulling at her shirt. His clammy hands plant moisture on her clothes, but she doesn't mind. Or if she does, she doesn't say it. "What the fuck do I do?"

"It'll be okay," is all she says. It's the only thing she can say. 

There's no clear answer; Jimin will always be like this no matter how hard he tries. He'll still have nightmares, flashbacks, PTSD, everything. Things he can't control. Things that lead to outbursts like him punching the monitor until his knuckles start to bleed.

He can feel the pain now. The aching sensation that creeps up his arms, signaling that he hurt himself badly just to destroy something. Why can't he stop himself and his urges? Why won't the memories fade away? Jimin forces the thoughts away and pulls back with tears clouding both his eyes and judgement. 

"Who am I?" he asks in a whisper, Y/n placing both her hands on his face.

"You're Park Jimin, and out of all of us, you're the one who doesn't belong here the most." More water flows down his face, him staring at nothing but her. "Out of all of us, you should be the one who never got into the mafia, never got here. Even now, you've always been so innocent Min. I'm so sorry."

Jimin lets out a breath, knowing that they need to go, but not wanting to. "I am too," he murmurs, pulling her in for another hug. He shakes his head.

"I am too."

~~~

Namjoon watches Jungkook, Jin, and Yoongi gear up with the little they have. By little, he means nothing, so they've resorted to sneaking around and stealing supplies. So far, Jungkook has been trusted with a scalpel for some reason, and Yoongi has scissors. Jin and Namjoon are weaponless, which isn't a great sign.

"Just got update from Y/n, Jimin's not doing so hot," Yoongi says, sneaking to the back door.

"He's seriously in that bad of shape?" Namjoon asks.

"Not only physically, but um... just, things you wouldn't understand happened to him. He's getting memories from it and he's not in a great spot right now."

"This is hardly the time to be getting memories. Can I slap him to snap him out of it?" Namjoon asks. That earns him a glare from both Yoongi and Jungkook. "Am I missing something? What the hell could've happened to him that made him like this?" He glances at Jin. "Do you know?" Jin shakes his head. "But Jungkook knows? How the hell does he know?"

"Because Tae told me. Not to mention when I talked to Jimin, he pretty much told me himself."

"Well he's our best fighter, took out 3 guys in maybe 30 seconds, probably less. We need him. Someone slap him-"

"He was a father, Namjoon," Jungkook interrupts, clenching his jaw. "I shouldn't even be telling you, but try to understand a little bit, yeah?"

Namjoon never thought he'd see the day where he's being a bigger asshole than Jungkook, but his face falls as soon as he realizes what Jungkook means. 'Was'. Jimin was a dad. A father with a kid. At this age? Namjoon wonders when he could've had enough time for a child.

"Before the mafia. He's only here because of it," Yoongi mumbles as if reading his mind, opening the back door. Namjoon runs a hand through his hair, both him and Jin sharing a similar reaction to the revelation. "Now come on, plan is we go outside and fight off the assholes cornering us while the others get to safety. Taehyung, Ariel, Jimin, Hoseok, and Y/n are going out the side and trying to avoid any questions from doctors. Hopefully their side of the plan works. We meet up with them behind the hospital in 5 minutes assuming everything goes right. And if it goes wrong, which it will, we wait behind the hospital for 5 minutes max, then get to the rooftop of the nearest building and search for a way out if they're no show's. Got it?"

"Why isn't Hoseok on our side?" Jin asks.

"Because Taehyung's blind, Ariel's a fetus, Jimin's injured both mentally and physically, and Y/n's helping Jimin walk, so they need at least one person who's in top condition to fight," Jungkook replies, peeking out at the landscape. "I think I see some people waiting. Look."

They all follow his finger as they step outside, noticing how there's a man waiting alongside the building, glancing down at his watch. "Alright, two problems. One, there's definitely more than one person. Two, he definitely has a gun."

"How do we handle that?" Namjoon asks.

"Namjoon, you're our strongest physically. You charge him and knock him over, the girth of your tits should be able to block a bullet."

"Jungkook, I swear to fucking God."

"Let's focus, yeah?" Yoongi says, interrupting them all. "Jungkook, you're the fastest. Get the jump on them and we'll back you up. We don't really have much choice other than to attack fast while we still have the element of surprise."

Jungkook laughs, the others staring at him. His face falls. "Oh wait, you're serious?"

"Get going, pretty boy," Yoongi says, Jungkook huffing at that.

"At least he called me pretty," Jungkook mumbles before sprinting off, the others following behind him. Jungkook tackles the nearest man and stabs him in the neck, Yoongi stabbing the one behind him before he can shoot Jungkook. Namjoon picks up the pistol he dropped, but Jungkook snatches it off him. "No offense, but we all know I'm the best shot we have."

Namjoon doesn't actually care. It kills him to admit it even mentally, but Jungkook's right: he's the best shot they have. If anyone deserves the gun, it's him. Speaking of, Jin grabs the pistol off the other one that Jungkook killed, handing it to Yoongi. They trade weapons, Jin taking the scissors and Yoongi taking the pistol. Jungkook tosses the bloody scalpel back to Namjoon, him taking it and holding it near his chest.

"Let's keep moving, there's more around us," Jin says, peeking out from the alleyway.

There's static, Namjoon glancing down to see that the men they killed are wearing earpieces. Shit, that means they're doing check-ins. They'll know that they're fighting back, that they're outside the hospital. The last thing any of them need is to get killed. Obviously.

Namjoon grunts, the others picking up on his despair and grunting with him. He hops up and pretends that everything is still okay, the four of them rushing to the next angle of the building. Again, it kills him to admit, but Jungkook was right. There's definitely more than one person. There has to be a whole pack of them out here. Luckily, they killed those last two without raising much awareness (besides the earpieces). So they'll send people over here, and they can pick them off when they arrive. Right? They still have the element of surprise here.

"How much longer do we need to stall for?" Jin asks.

"Don't know, don't know if I want to find out either," Jungkook says, eyeing the others guarding the exits of the hospital. 

Namjoon goes next to him, staring down the ones who are pressing their earpieces right now. Jungkook is mumbling to himself, something about a plan, but the sweat sticking to his head tells Namjoon all he needs to know.

Even Jungkook is scared.

Namjoon sighs and pushes him back, out of view of anyone who may be watching. The others gather round, sensing that Namjoon needs to speak. "Alright, here's the plan. Jungkook and Yoongi have the guns as you should, you have the best aim. Stay back and provide firing support at long range. Yoongi, you in particular watch our rear. We're kind of in a dead end, but Jungkook got his favorite fingers shot off by someone on rooftops. Keep an eye on the roofs." Jungkook grunts and flips Namjoon off with his stub. Namjoon returns the gesture, only he actually has a finger to flip. "Jin and I will stay near each other and attack them head-on. We only have a minute, so having both ranged and close combat is our best play."

"Can't disagree. It's not like we can really hide anywhere. It's an alley, not some big mansion," Jin says, nodding his head to Namjoon's plan. Namjoon smiles, the two sharing a look for a moment.

"Okay, back up, let's get into position," Jungkook says, checking to see how many bullets he has in the pistol. Yoongi does the same, the two of them retreating to the back of the alley. Not too far that it's dangerous, but far enough that anyone shooting at them would have to really try to hit them. Plus, they knock over a couple barrels sitting on the sides of the alley, taking weak cover behind the metal cylinders. 

Jungkook and Yoongi give them a thumbs up when they're done, Namjoon and Jin ducking behind the alley wall to wait for a search party to come. Probably a minute or so, maybe more.

"You know, we could probably get away," Jin whispers.

Namjoon shifts his gaze to him, still staying alert, but also paying attention to his friend. "What? Get away from what?"

"All of this. We can get the others and us away. We can still charter private planes under fake names and identities, completely change our appearance past a dye job, go live somewhere in another country far from their reach. On a farm... we could run a little farm."

"I appreciate the idea, but where would we go?"

"The Maldives, maybe?"

"Oh yes, let's start a farm on a place that's 99% water."

"Okay, maybe not a farm, but something nice. We can just live peacefully, work normal jobs. Madam Avasa mostly operates out of Australia, North America, South America, and Europe. She doesn't bother much with Asia. Japan, China, and South Korea, sure, but not the smaller countries like the Maldives."

"Isn't that exactly why we shouldn't go there?"

"No, it's exactly why we should," Jin says, grabbing Joon's free hand. "We can go somewhere we won't exist. We can fake our own deaths and the Council will consider us executed."

"How do we fake our own deaths?"

Right before he can get his answer, a man rounds the corner, Jin stabbing him in the neck with the scissors immediately. Jungkook and Yoongi shout something, but more men come around right after. Shots pop off, Namjoon rushing into the fight and swinging his scalpel around like a maniac. He looks and feels like one right now.

There has to be eight men all in the vicinity, Jungkook and Yoongi doing their best to cover Namjoon and Jin, but it's nearly impossible considering this is a close-quarters battle. Jin engages with two, knocking their guns away and getting into a knife fight with them (where his knife is a pair of scissors). Namjoon, on the other hand, stabs one in the chin and up his jaw, using the man's body as a shield. No one shoots, confusion ringing in the air. Namjoon throws the body at them as best he can, knocking one over and staggering another.

Jungkook shoots down the one that staggered, Yoongi getting the one that was about to kill Namjoon. Namjoon does a half-wave of thanks before stabbing the one that fell in the eye. Namjoon, Jungkook, and Yoongi have taken out four, Jin stabbing one and struggling with the other. Where did the other two go? Why aren't they- oh.

"Jungkook! Yoongi!" Namjoon shouts. 

The other two men are going after them, which isn't a bad move, trying to execute the ranged support. Jungkook and Yoongi are taking pop shots at the two charging them, but seeing as they're rapidly moving targets, it's hard. Jungkook shoots one in the shoulder, but he shoots back and borderline takes Jungkook's head off. Jungkook, in a fit of rage, throws his pistol at the man just as Yoongi guns down the one charging him.

The pistol hits the man in the head, stopping his movements. Jungkook literally jumps on the man, swinging around until he's on his back like the man is giving him a piggyback. Then, Jungkook snaps his neck, the two falling to the ground. Namjoon swivels back to see Jin panting and kneeling, two dead bodies next to him. Eight came, eight died. What the fuck is going on with them anymore?

"There's going to be more," Jin says, grabbing one of the earpieces from the fallen men. He clears his throat and clicks it. "We're suffering many casualties! Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin were killed, but the other two are still alive and gunning us down! Repeat! They are armed and dangerous and-" Jin cuts the contact suddenly, tossing the earpiece off, stomping on it, and standing. He gives Namjoon a smile.

"We're dead now."

~~~

There's nothing more challenging than walking down the road and not being able to see. 

All he can feel are the vibrations of the ground, a hand tugging his. Ariel's. The little girl who Y/n said they rescued. That's a step in the right direction for them: healing instead of hurting. Quite frankly, Ariel is the most competent member of all of them. She does what they ask her to do, she doesn't complain (much; when she's around Jimin, that's a different story).

She's traumatized enough, so this shit is nothing for her, and she isn't a brutal murderer. It's always a nice touch to know at least one person won't stab Kim Taehyung in the back. Now that he can't see, he doubts he'll ever trust anyone other than Jimin, Y/n, Jungkook, and Ariel again.

The path out of the hospital is tricky since there's so many mafia men waiting for them. Cops are on the way too, most likely looking for the ones who were forced into hiding because of a robbery. How are they going to escape this? Especially considering Taehyung can't see.

"You still with us?" Ariel asks. 

He recognizes the three pitches of her tone by now. There's her normal, when she's being herself. There's the second where she has a small quiver mixed inside, displaying her secret fear and sorrow. Then there's this one, the third, where she's distracting herself. Trying to make conversation. Trying to survive. She must've learned it from living with those monsters that were labeled "parents".

He opens his mouth to reply, but no sounds come out. Does he still have a mouth? How does he know it's there if he can't see it? If he can't see anything? What's even the point of living if he can't see Jungkook's bunny smile again, or the joy in his eyes when he sees Tae. Jungkook doesn't seem like the type to express joy, but Tae has dated him long enough to know. He knows when Jungkook is happy. All by one look; a look that only comes when he sees Tae.

"Hey," Ariel says in a hushed voice. "I'll guide you. I won't let go of you."

"You promise?"

She squeezes his hand. "Promise. Always."

He relaxes at that, the darkness encompassing his vision still startling him. Sometimes he tries to open his eyes. One of his eyes is gone, the other too badly damaged to ever see again. Sometimes he notices patterns dancing around the one eye he has left. Little strings of greens and blues. Each time it gives him hope his vision will come back. It never does.

"Where are we going?" he asks to no one in particular.

"Away from here," Y/n replies.

Taehyung can hear the pounding of footsteps, shouts in the distance, some sirens too. He trembles, Ariel picking up their already fast pace. He almost stumbles on air, more corners being turned and him being thrown around due to the force. 

Tae can't see where he's going, making it increasingly difficult to navigate his surroundings. Despite his other senses taking the spotlight now, he feels overstimulated. The sudden heightened use of his senses has his head spinning, his hands clammy, and his body threatening to drop and shudder at any moment.

"Tae, still alive?"

"I don't even fucking know," he says to her, Ariel guiding him further down what he can only assume is the sidewalk. "Anyone want to tell me where we're going?"

"We're trying to escape. There's an old hotel up this way, it might be the one Holden's at. It's under construction and I'm hoping the workers went home for the day. Apparently the first ten floors are finished, the last three are under repair. We can lose them in there and steal equipment to use as weapons," Y/n says.

"How do you know about the hotel?" Tae asks.

There's a pause. "It's um, not too far."

"Huh?"

"We can see it, Tae."

"Oh," he softly says, still following Ariel.

"Old man, put the bag down. Why are you even carrying it? You had time to buy something?" Ariel asks someone who Taehyung assumes is Jimin. When Tae hears a grunt, his theory is confirmed.

"Don't worry about me and keep running, this stuff is actually really important. We're almost at the hotel-"

'Bam!'

There's a yelp, a yelp that sounds like it came from Jimin. "Jimin!" Tae shouts, Ariel going still but keeping a hold on his hand. More gunshots go off, Ariel shoving Taehyung down. When he hears the sound of bullets hitting metal, he assumes she pushed him in cover. "What the hell's going on? Is Jimin okay?!"

No answer, Taehyung left alone in both silence and darkness. He tries not to cry, gripping what feels like gravel beneath him. "Where's Jimin!?" he asks, still having no answer. 

The smell of blood hits his nostrils, the putrid aroma clogging his tongue and making him swallow a sea of snot. He groans and staggers back, whimpering while gunshots overload his ears. Out of desperation, he covers his skin, curling up in what he imagines is a ball while no one speaks to him.

Gunfire. More gunfire. Shouts. Screams. Cries. The smell of blood gets stronger. Taehyung screeches for help. To his surprise, this time he gets it. Ariel's hand squeezes his leg as the other noises dial down, smoke replacing the blood and flaring his nose. He recoils, Ariel the only thing that keeps him grounded. 

"What's going on?" he whispers, keeping his voice as low as possible. "Where are we?"

"In front of the hotel, there's someone here," she whispers back. That's when he hears a small bell signaling the doors opening. "We need to go. Now."

"What happened? Where's Jimin? Is he okay?"

"Not now, we need to run," Ariel says, pulling him inside and rushing away, grasping his hand tightly. His feet pound on the new surface, him identifying it as carpet.

"Where are the others?!"

"Outside," Ariel says, abruptly stopping near the wall. A pit forms where Taehyung's heart should be, the pants leaving his mouth nothing compared to the commotion nestled inside his mind. "We have a huge problem." He stays still, not answering. He can practically see her sigh.

"He's here, that High Council member is here. The one named Holden, and he has our friends at gunpoint."

~~~

A/N: I've asked a lot of people about this story, more specifically, about their favorite characters in this story. And the top four answers remain the same (yes, this is the average order too):

1. Jungkook

2. Jimin

3. Ariel

4. Yoongi

Honorable mention: Tae

So pretty much: Regina George if she had a banana milk obsession, Vietnam flashbacks: the novelization, the little mermaid if she had even bigger daddy issues, every grumpy cat meme combined, and a bat are the most liked characters. Man, I've written this story well.